When Mickey 17 is the movie you expect it to be, it’s great. Multiple Robert Pattinsons chewing super cool sci-fi scenery, often opposite a dynamite supporting cast. That makes up a significant portion of the movie, which is also heavy on interesting world-building and character-driven humor. Crazy stuff happens, then more crazy stuff happens, and it’s all pretty entertaining. But, over the course of the film, a story that starts as a subplot becomes increasingly important, and it creates a narrative and tonal imbalance that holds the film back from its full potential.
Written and directed by the Oscar-winning Bong Joon-ho, and based on a novel by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 is set in a near future where a unique spin on cloning technology has been created. The tech perfectly prints out a new version of a person, down to their most recent memories, and its invention sets off all manner of ethical and religious controversies. It’s so controversial, in fact, that it’s outlawed on Earth. But, it’s the future, so it’s allowed in space, and through a seriously silly set of events, a nobody named Mickey (Pattinson) signs up for the job of an expendable. A person whose job it is to die.
Bolstering that setup is a truly incredible job of world-building. Seemingly every question you could have—”How exactly would this work?” “What would the world think about it?” “How could it be exploited?”—is dealt with in a fun, detailed way that could only come from the mind of a true sci-fi fan. All of this is then slowly dispersed as we watch Mickey after Mickey live and die, through all manner of dangerous work including human testing for medicines, diseases, and more.
Why would someone need to do human medical trials? That’s because, as we soon learn, Mickey’s job is to be expendable on an expedition of people fed up with Earth who hope to repopulate an alien planet in deep space. The voyage is led by the charismatic but slightly stupid Senator Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), who lost two presidential elections, and now takes hundreds of sycophant passengers to another galaxy hoping to create a world all for themselves. He’s obsessed with wealth, power, has golden orange skin, huge teeth, fake hair, and… you see where we’re going with this. He’s supposed to remind us of THAT guy.
Bong’s movies are always socially conscious and interesting, even if they can be a little on the nose. From Parasite to Snowpiercer, to Okja and The Hostyou can usually read Bong’s thematic intent like a big, blinking light. What sets Mickey 17 apart is that on paper the film’s political parallels are much better hidden. Marshall and his in-your-face wife Gwen (Toni Collette) play merely a tangential role at the start, as the story is more focused on Mickey’s friendship with the selfish Berto (Steven Yeun) and his burgeoning romance with the soldier Nasha (Naomi Ackie).
Those relationships have a relatable, human feel and, when interwoven with the cloning stuff, really work. Mickey 17 is at its very best when it explores how the existence of clones would impact the lives of all these characters. But as the space mission goes on, the Marshalls’ plan to repopulate a new planet with a superior human race becomes increasingly prevalent. Slowly but surely it overtakes the film. What was at first a little silly and unpredictable becomes much more serious and much more predictable, because we are, frankly, living in it right now.
The intentions are clear: to show how a person who is so anonymous no one cares if he dies can stand up against a tyrant. And, along the way, there are a few fun twists that keep things fresh. However, you can almost feel the enjoyment you were getting from the film slowly drain away because of how recognizable everything becomes. It’s almost as if, if things had gone differently this past November, the entire movie would play differently. (The film did famously shift release dates several times and now we’re wondering if distance from the election was part of the reasoning.) November did happen, though, and we now live in a world where a Marshall-like leader and his loonies are actually running things, not running away into space.
Eventually, Mickey’s cloning and Marshall’s plan come together and everything shifts again. What started as a sci-fi exploration before becoming a political lightning rod ends as something else entirely. A good “something else.” It even involves a super cool species of creatures nicknamed “Creepers” that play a huge role. But the film’s disjointed tones, themes, and exterior forces continue to work against a film which, at its heart, has such exciting potential and intention.
As Mickey, Pattinson has the role of a lifetime, portraying multiple versions of himself, often in the same scene. His ability to make us feel sympathy for Mickey despite his regeneration is something to behold. Ruffalo and Collette are also having an incredible time (one word: “Sauce”), though Ruffalo’s performance does occasionally touch dangerously upon imitation. Yeun is perfect as the slimy friend you love to hate, while Ackie finds a perfect balance of strength and playfulness. Everyone in the film is excellent.
You just wish it was all in service of a story that was scary for reasons intended on screen instead of off. Mickey 17 is an uneven, enjoyable film that will almost certainly get better with age, distance, and perspective. As it stands, no matter what your political views are, watching it now feels way too soon to distinguish our reality from its sci-fi future. But it’s certainly unique and weird enough to warrant a watch.
Mickey 17 just had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. It opens in the U.S. March 7.
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